Scale.



P.. H. PORSCHNER.

SCALE.

APPLIGMION FILED JAN. 19, 1910.

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SGALE.

Patented Oct. 11, 1910.

2 .SHEETS-SHEET 2.

5 manic/z R. H. FORSCHNER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.19, 1910.

RICHARD H. FORSCI-INER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SCALE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed January 19, 1910.

Patented Oct. 11, 1910. Serial No. 538,832.

To @ZZ 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD H. F oRsoH- NER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of the city, county, and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Scales, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to scales and more particularly, in some of itsfeatures, to spring balance scales or other automatic counterbalancingscales.

The object of my invention is to provide a scale which can be cheaplyconstructed and easily taken apart for repairs and in which the pointermay be readily adjusted at any time and the movement thereof madesteady, even and reliable without undue friction.

My invention will best be understood by reference to the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying` drawings forminga. part of this specification in which Figure 1 is a front view of thescale with a part of the dial broken away to show the mechanism, Fig. 2is a front view of the frame of the scale with the dial removed andcertain of the parts in section and others partly broken away to showcertain details, and Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 show details of the mechanism.

Referring to the drawings-Fig. 1 1 is a channel-like frame havinglateral iianges 2, to which is secured a dial 3, the frame beingsuspended from any suitable means such as the hook and link 4. Asupporting arm 5 is pivoted to the frame at G, preferably upon a lugformed on the frame, and at the other end of this arm is pivoted athreaded rod 7 which passes through an opening in the frame and isprovided with a nut 8 for adjusting the arm vertically on its pivot. Abar 9 is pivoted to the supporting arm preferably in the line ofsuspension, as at 10, and at each end of this arm a spring 11 issuspended by means of screw threaded studs 12, which allow compensationfor any slight lack of adjustment in the springs themselves, andextending down between the springs from the bar 9 is a projection 13provided with a slot 14 into which a projection 15 from the frameengages for the purpose of guiding the spring carrying arm 9 and holdingit normal to the line of draft for the adjusted positions of supportingarm 5 andfor other purposes hereinafter mentioned. A load bar 16 issecured to the lower end of the springs 11, said bar having' anextension 17 to which is secured a scale 18 and means such as 19 foraccommodating the load. A rack bar 2O is pivoted to the load bar at 21and engages a pinion 22 mounted on a shaft 23 to which is also secured apointer 24. The rack bar is guided in its reciprocations and held toengagement with the pinion by means of a guide lug 25 mounted on theframe opposite the pinion and a spring 26 secured to the load bar 16.

For the purpose of dampening the movement of the load bar so as to givethe pointer an even travel over the dial I provide a dash pot consistingof an inverted openmouthed cylinder 27 which is rigidly secured to thespring carrying arm 9 by means of a screw threaded projection 2S (Fig.2), and a piston 29 which is movable in the cylinder and connected tothe load bar 1G by means of a rod 30.

Great difficulty has been encountered in providing scales with a dashpot that while giving the pointer an even travel over the dial andeliminating unnecessary vibrations, will not create too great a frictionor have a tendency to bind under certain operating conditions; and toovercome these diiiiculties I mount the cylinder of my dash pot on thearm 9 and connect the piston with the load arm in the following manner.The piston 29 is provided with t-he longitudinal central opening 31(Fig. 3) into which iits a plug 32 having a threaded extension 33engaging a nut 34 counter-sunk in the top of the piston, and to the stud32 I pivot the rod 30 which at its other end is connected to the loadarm 16. By this construction the thrust of the rod is transmitteddirectly to the center of the dashpot so that all lateral thrusts on thepiston due to relative lateral movement between the two bars 9 and 16will cause the smallest possible amount of side thrust or tendency tobind between the piston and cylinder, since the pull and thrust of therod 30 is transmitted directly to the center of the length of thepiston. By this construction I can readily replace worn or cracked ingthe nut from the threads of the plug and inserting the plug in a newpiston, and also by the use of the threaded extension of the plug andthe nut I am enabled to adjust the plug within the longitudinal openingof the piston so as to bring the pivotal connecpreferably rigidlypistons simply by unscrewdo this it is necessary to adjust tween saidbars if both tion between the piston and plug substantially at thecenter of the piston with pistons of slightly varying length, all ofwhich adds to the economy and adjustment of the scale.

In Figs. 4 and 5 I show a slight modification in the connection betweenthe plug and the central opening of the piston in which the plug istapped out and held in place by a counter-sunk screw 35 at the top ofthe piston, the plug fitting the opening of the piston throughout itslength.

Fig. G shows an enlarged view of the threaded rod and the nut engagingthe same for adjusting the supporting arm 5 upon its pivot. Obviouslymany other arrangements for making this adjustment may be provided, andwhile I have described my invention with particularity in the formshown, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the detailsof the particular construction shown since various modifications may bemade in the invention without departing from the spirit of the same.

I consider the feature of guiding and holding the bar 19 normal to theline of draft, an important feature of my invention since it has manyadvantages over scales in which this bar is permitted to rock on itspivot. By holding this bar normal to the line of draft, and preventingrocking, the springs are made to receive the load more uniformly in ashorter length of time, thus making the indicating mechanism more steadyduring the weighing operations, and especially is this true in caseswhere the load is taken ofi and put on rapidly, since the pointerbecomes steady in a much shorter length of time than if the arm 9 werepermitted to rock on its pivot due to the movements of the springs.Again where, for certain reasons, it is preferable to secure the dashpoton this bar 9 as applicant has done, the guiding of said bar reduces thetendency of the dashpot and cylinder to bind due to the increasedrelative motion bewere permitted to have lateral movement. This featureof guiding the bar 9 is also of importance in the testing or graduatingof the scale, since it permits this operation to be done in a muchshorter time, thereby reducing the cost of production.

Before a scale is put on the market it should be properly graduated sothat the pointer will register at the proper point of the dial for agiven standard weight, and to the teeth or other gearing co-nnecting theload bar with the pointer, and since the pointer must come to a positionof rest at each division of the scale before its accuracy can bedetermined, any lessening of the vibration of the pointer due to thespring action, will greatly reduce the time taken for calibrating orgraduating each scale, and by holding the bar 9 normal to the line ofdraft the vibration of the spring, and hence of the pointer, is greatlyreduced, and the time required for calibrating or graduating greatlyreduced. Obviously various arrangements may be devised for grueling thebar 9, and I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to theconstruction shown other than as indicated in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

l. In a scale, the combination of a frame, a supporting arm pivotedthereto, a spring carrying bar pivoted to said arm, a load bar, springsconnecting said bars, means for adjusting the supporting arm vertically,and means for holding the spring carrying bar at rightI angles to theline of draft.

2. In a scale, the combination of a frame, a supporting arm pivotedthereto, a spring carrying bar pivoted to said arm, a load bar, springsconnecting said bars, means at the other end of said supporting armengaging a part of the frame for adjusting said arm in a vertical plane,a projection from the frame a projection from the carrying arm extendingbetween the springs and engaging the projection from the frame forguiding said bar and holding it parallel to the load bar at allpositions of said supporting arm.

3. In a scale, the combination of a frame, means for suspending thesame, a load supporting arm pivoted to the frame at one side of the lineof suspension, a spring carrying bar pivoted to said arm substantiallyin the line of suspension, a pair cf springs suspended from said bar oneat each end, a load bar carried on the lower end of said springs, meansprojecting from the supporting arm and engaging a part of the frame foradjusting said arm, a projection from the bar provided with a slotextending down between the springs, and a stud from the frame engagingin said slot for grueling said carrying bar and holding it normal to theline of suspension for the adjusted positions of the supporting arm.

4. In a scale, the combination of a frame, having a vertical channelportion, means for suspending the frame, a load supporting arm pivotedto said frame at the top of the channel and to one side of the line ofsuspension, a spring carrying bar within the channel pivoted to said armsubstantially in the line of suspension, a stud at each end of the barhaving a screw threaded connection therewith, a pair of parallelsprings, one being suspended from each stud, a load bar also within thechannel and suspended at the lower end of said springs, a threaded rodpivoted to the'supporting arm, a nut supported by the frame and engagingthe threads of said rod for adjusting the arm vertically on its pivot, aprojection from the carrying bar extending down between the springs andprovided with a slot, a projection from the frame engaging in said slotto guide said bar and hold it normal to the line of suspension for allpositions of said supporting arm.

5. In a scale, the combination of a frame, means for supporting thesame, a supporting arm pivoted to the frame, a spring carrying barpivoted to said arm substantially in the line of suspension, a springsecured at each end of said bar, a load bar carried at the lower end ofsaid springs, a dash pot having two relatively movable members fordampening the movement of said load bar, one member' being connected tosaid carrying bar intermediate the spring connections therewith, theother member being connected to the load bar, and means for holding thecarrying bar normal to the line of suspension to prevent binding of thedash pot.

G. In a scale, the combination of a frame, a supporting arm pivoted tothe frame, means for adjusting said arm vertically about its pivot, aspring carrying bar pivoted to said arm intermediate its points ofsupport, a spring carried at each end of Asaid bar, a load bar carriedat the lower end of said springs, a cylinder mounted on the carrying barand extending between the springs, a piston movable in said cylinder, arod connected to the load bar at one end and at the other end pivoted tothe piston, substantially at the center of the longitudinal axis of itsfriction surface, and means for guiding the carrying bar and holding itnormal to the line of draft for preventing binding of said cylinder andpiston.

7. In a scale, t-he combination of a frame, a supporting arm pivoted tosaid frame at one end, and means secured to the other end of said armand engaging said frame for vertically adjusting said arm on its pivot,a

spring carrying bar pivotally connected to said arm intermediate itssupports, a spring suspended from each end of said bar, a slotted memberprojecting down from said bar between the springs, a stud projectingfrom the frame and engaging in said slot to guide the bar and hold itnormal to the line of draft, a shaft carried by said frame intermediatethe springs, a pointer and a pinion secured to said shaft, a dial overwhich said pointer moves, a load bar carried at the lower end of saidsprings, a rock bar pivoted to said load bar and means for guiding thesame and holding' it in engagement with said pinion for moving' thepointer, a cylinder mounted on the carrying bar and a piston movable insaid cylinder and connected to said load bar, whereby the supportingarm, bars, springs and dash pot may be removed from said frame intact byremoving the dial and loosening the supporting arm from its supports anddisengaging the stud from the slotted member of the carrying bar.

8. In a scale, the combination of a frame, a supporting'arm pivotedthereto, means for adjusting said arm vertically on its support, aspring carrying bar pivoted to said arm, a load bar, springs connectingsaid bars, a cylinder rigidly secured to the spring carrying bar, a dashpot movable in said cylinder, a rod secured to the load bar at one endand at its other end pivoted to said piston substantially at the centerof the longitudinal axis of its friction surface, and means projectingfrom the spring carrying bar and engaging a part on the frame forholding the bar normal to the line of draft for equally distributing theload on the springs.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

RICHARD H. FORSCHNER.

I/Vitnesses SAMUEL M. VARD, Jr., EDWIN SEGER.

